Responsible gun owners have complained for three decades that the media
is biased against them. The media has either denied it or simply refused
to address the issue.

A report released in January, 2000, by the Media Research Center found
network news stories about guns supported more gun control ten times as
often as they questioned it. The study evaluated over 600 news segments
on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN over a two year period.

The networks ignored the report. They no longer bother to refute the
charge that they are biased against gun rights. This bias has become institutionalized,
especially in the major national news organizations.

The way in which the media has chosen sides on this issue has disturbed
many people, from civil rights advocates to conspiracy theorists. Is it
part of a sinister conspiracy to install a totalitarian regime? Perhaps
there is a simpler explanation.

Quotes from journalists blatantly announcing their personal opposition
to guns are now archived in large numbers on the internet, so there is
little doubt that their personal beliefs match the agenda of their employers.
Why do journalists, as a group, tend to hate guns? Let's ask some journalists.

"Journalists are not different than other people - they have a
tendency to fear what they don't understand. I look around the newsroom
and I see predominantly young reporters, more women than men, most who
grew up in urban areas, few who served in the military, absolutely no
hunting tradition. They have had little or no exposure to firearms beyond
their use as tools of crime. I also see men and women who have a naive
faith in law enforcement, that the police will be around to help them
in their time of need."

In 1993, USA Today ran an in-depth analysis of the gun issue. Journalist
Tony Mauro wrote that in the USA Today office, "which prides itself
on drawing its staff from a cross section of the nation, it was hard to
find editors and reporters who had ever pulled a trigger."

Retired journalist Larry Palletti writes:

"Today's reporters spent their youth listening to Dan Rather and
Tom Brokaw expound upon the evils inherent in gun ownership. To them,
the tool bears the stigma -- not the person who misuses the tool. With
the disappearance of military conscription, these kids aren't exposed
to weapons except for what they hear and see on TV and in the movies.
They buy into the fictions because they've not been taught about gun
use and gun safety."

The definitive statement on this topic was written by William R. Tonso
in Reason magazine: "Most journalists know very little about guns
and are not interested in learning."

A few brave reporters have actually decided to learn something about
firearms. The resulting articles are often very good.

Al Giordano produced an excellent article for the Boston Phoenix (7/21/95)
after he accepted an offer from gun rights activist C. D. Tavares to visit
a local shooting range to learn about so called "assault weapons".
He discovered that many of his ideas about these weapons, and about gun
owners were wrong.

Phillip Weiss wrote in the New York Times Sunday Magazine (9/19/94) of
his first shooting experience. His well written story explores the strong
emotions and internal conflict that guns can invoke in someone who has
been taught to hate and fear them. Accompanied by experienced shooters
at the range, Weiss begins to absorb the essence of what it means to be
a responsible gun owner. "Issues of trust, individualism and community
started to transform themselves", he writes. For a moment, he seems
to realize that the gun owner's logic was correct but then states that,
"I wasn't ready to give up the social contract I'd already bought
into."

All journalists who write about firearms issues owe it to their readers
to educate themselves. There are numerous firearms training centers around
the country that offer many levels of instruction, from quick introductions
to week-long training sessions. Unfortunately, journalists are rare in
these classes. Perhaps they are afraid of the gun owners they've demonized
or perhaps they fear that their elitist beliefs will be changed.

There may be some signs that the bias is moderating outside the first
tier of networks and newspapers. The relatively young Fox News Network
has taken its commitment to unbiased coverage seriously and aired an occasional
gun-neutral or pro-gun news report. The anti-gun Seattle Times recently
announced in an editorial that the Second Amendment does indeed protect
a citizen's right to own a handgun.

Philadelphia's City Paper ran a cover story on April 6 that was headlined:
"What if the Gun Nuts Are Right?" Portland's Willamette Week
ran an unbiased story on concealed weapons permits and the Tacoma Reporter
sent a correspondent to visit a range with a gun rights advocate. Apparently,
open minds are more common at smaller newspapers, but they can't offset
the overwhelming influence of the national media.

Many observers have suggested that the fight for the right to bear arms
is a dress rehearsal for the next fight, for freedom of the press. Gun
owners have proven to be a formidable political group and they have long
memories. Which side will they support in that future conflict?